WWF Championship Wrestling February 23rd, 1985

February 23, 1985

Your hosts are Bruno Sammartino and Vince McMahon

This week, Paul Orndorff and the tag team champions, Barry Windham & Mike Rotundo are in action. Also in action are David Sammartino and Don Muraco. Plus, a special update on Wendi Richter and a clip from the Roddy Piper vs. Hulk Hogan match from the “War to Settle the Score” special.

Steve Lombardi & Johnny Rodz vs. Barry Windham & Mike Rotundo w/Capt. Lou Albano

The crowd goes crazy for the champs. It was weird seeing Albano as a face manager and I didn’t care for it to be honest as he was toned down. Albano was much better as a raving lunatic. Back to the match, Rodz stalls before they take it to the mat. Rotundo tags and beats on Rodz before grabbing a side headlock. Lombardi attempts to sneak behind the ref but is stopped. The champs work on Rodz some more until he is able to tag out. Lombardi enters and Rotundo immediately gets him up in the airplane spin for the victory (3:03).

Thoughts: The crowd was really into the champs and “Born in the USA” as their theme song immediately popped the crowd. Then again, this was the first match of the TV Taping and the crowd is always loud for that. They were pushing the champs heavy on commentary too.

WWF Update with Lord Alfred Hayes. This week’s topic is on Wendi Richter, who lost her title to Leilani Kai at Madison Square Garden. Hayes promises us that we will see footage of the match next week.

Joe Mirto vs. Greg “The Hammer” Valentine w/Jimmy Hart

This is Hart’s WWF debut. Mirto grabs a hammerlock to start. They trade slams and Valentine ducks outside for a bit then re-enters and rakes the eyes. He roughs up Mirto on the apron then drops a few elbows before putting on the figure-four leglock, causing Mirto to submit (2:44).

Thoughts: Very little mention or focus on Hart. Speaking of that, Valentine recalled in his “1985 WWF Timeline” for Kayfabe Commentaries that he found out that Hart was going to be his manager after receiving a phone call while extremely hungover in his hotel room.

Mean Gene is with Freddie Blassie, who proclaims that Windham & Rotundo will have the shortest title reign in history. Blassie then jokes that he is a commie.

David Sammartino vs. R.T. Reynolds

Rita Marie is the referee for this match. Sammartino gets a pair of armdrags to start. He works the arm as Vince compares him to Bruno, who puts over his son. They fuck up a powerslam reversal spot as Sammartino goes back to the arm. Reynolds catches Sammartino with a knee and a slam but misses a charge. Sammartino suplexes Reynolds around before hitting the powerslam for the win (3:14). After the match, Andre the Giant comes to the ring and congratulates David on his win.

Thoughts: They haven’t given up yet on David’s push. In fact, they are trying harder than ever.

Okerlund is now with Albano. He puts over Jimmy Snuka and says that he will defeat Roddy Piper at the Boston Garden. Albano puts over Hogan and the tag champs before mentioning his work with the Multiple Sclerosis Foundation. Albano is now just a bland babyface manager.

Tony Garea vs. Don Muraco w/ Mr. Fuji

Muraco catches Garea with an elbow smash then misses consecutive elbow drops. Garea takes control and slams Muraco, who ducks outside. Back in the ring, Muraco gets caught with a sunset flip. Garea is able to escape from a bearhug and boots Muraco to the apron. After a brief struggle, Garea suplexes Muraco back into the ring but Muraco is able to turn it into a small package and gets the win (2:56).

Thoughts: This match really didn’t serve a purpose as Garea was in control for most of the time and Muraco only won with a small package. Garea always got in a lot on offense during these matches. He was protected as well as you could be for a job guy.

Piper’s Pit with Bobby Heenan, Ken Patera, and Big John Studd. Piper compliments everyone and asks Heenan about the $15,000 Bodyslam Challenge and how the fans ask him why Heenan doesn’t always bring the money for the contest. Just as Heenan is about to say why he doesn’t always bring the money, the segment ends. A forgettable segment.

The Piper/Hogan match from “War to Settle the Score” is shown in progress.

Jim Young vs. Paul Orndorff w/Bobby Heenan

Heenan takes the stretcher out from underneath the ring. The fans are all over Heenan and Orndorff, who is beating on Young. He hits a pair of suplexes then tosses him to the floor. Orndorff slams Young on the floor then taunts the fans for a bit. In the ring, Orndorff continues his assault, stopping at times to talk with Heenan, before hitting the piledriver for the win (3:44). After the match, Heenan brings the stretcher into the ring and Young has to get carried out by officials.

Thoughts: The stretcher gimmick was a good way to get Orndorff over even more than he was. Speaking of Orndorff, he was really underpushed around this time but that would change shortly.

Okerlund is with Hillbilly Jim. He gives Okerlund some whiskey as a gift and tells him he needs to take it internally. Okerlund jokes that he will only use it for medicinal purposes. He leaves and Piper enters, referring to Hillbilly as a goof and asks if he is related to Snuka. He then cuts a promo on Snuka, saying that he should be gone after all the damage he has caused him. He promises to beat him in Boston.

Next week, we will see clips from the Women’s Title change at MSG. McMahon then breaks the news that Hogan as chosen Mr. T as a partner to face Piper and a partner of his choosing for a match at a yet to be determined date and location.

Final Thoughts: The biggest news coming from this show was that Hogan and Mr. T were going to team up. Other than that, not much else of note happened. For historical purposes, Jimmy Hart made his debut but made very little impact here. The tag champs seem to be getting over, which is good seeing as the tag division was horrid the year prior.